Top grades since 2017
Share of english language and literature entries awarded A*–A, and A* alone, across the UK. The shaded years are 2020 and 2021, when grades were awarded without exams.
Male and female entries
A*–A rate by sex. In 2026 there were 1,734 male entries and 5,648 female entries; at A* the rates were 3.1% and 3.8% respectively.
Entries
Entries have fallen 7.4% over the last five years.
Every year in numbers
| Year | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 7,382 | 3.7% | 14.8% | 99.3% | |
| 2025 | 7,274 | 4% | 15% | 99.5% | |
| 2024 | 7,773 | 4.3% | 14.5% | 98.8% | |
| 2023 | 7,352 | 4.4% | 15% | 99.2% | |
| 2022 | 7,507 | 8.8% | 25% | 99.1% | |
| 2021 | 7,969 | 11.1% | 31.3% | 99.6% | teacher-assessed grades |
| 2020 | 7,879 | 6.8% | 24.2% | 99.8% | centre-assessed grades |
| 2019 | 8,197 | 2.9% | 12.3% | 99.2% | |
| 2018 | 9,676 | 2.9% | 12.5% | 99% | |
| 2017 | 11,058 | 2.9% | 12.2% | 99.2% |
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About the data
Source: JCQ joint results tables, © JCQCIC. Provisional June-series results for the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), all ages, as published at 9:30am each results day. Percentages are cumulative, so "A*–A" means the share of entries graded A* or A. Free to reuse our charts and computed figures with credit to Tutorperch and JCQ.